PHYCOMYCETES

add. ·noun ·pl a large, important class of parasitic or saprophytic fungi, the algal or algalike fungi. the plant body ranges from an undifferentiated mass of protoplasm to a well-developed and much-branched mycelium. reproduction is mainly sexual, by the formation of conidia or sporangia; but the group shows every form of transition from this method through simple conjugation to perfect sexual reproduction by egg and sperm in the higher forms.